Do you get confused about what to post on your Instagram grid, as a Reel or in a Story?

Or whether you should post the same content on all three?

Listen to this short podcast episode to find out how to decide what should be an Instagram Grid post, Reel or Story. 

It’s easy when you know how…honest! 

Useful Links

How to create more Instagram Reels in less time (these tips work for TikTok too) (podcast)

How I overcame my fear of showing my face on camera (podcast)

How do I get to 10k followers on Instagram? (podcast)

Does your Instagram account have to look pretty? (podcast)

Janet Murray’s Courageous Content Planner

Janet Murray’s website

Janet Murray on Instagram

Janet Murray on Facebook

Janet Murray on TikTok

Janet Murray on Twitter

Janet Murray on LinkedIn

IMPORTANT: THIS TRANSCRIPT IS AUTOMATICALLY GENERATED. WE GIVE IT A QUICK CHECK THROUGH BUT WE DON’T CORRECT EVERYTHING AS IT’S INTENDED TO HELP YOU FIND PARTS YOU WANT TO LISTEN TO AGAIN - NOT AS AN EXACT TRANSCRIPT. SO THERE MIGHT BE A FEW QUIRKY WORDS/PHRASES HERE!

Do you ever get confused about what to post on your Instagram grid? What should be an Instagram reel and what should go in your stories? If they, you are not alone? This is the question I get asked all the time. And in this quickie episode, I'm going to answer it actually. Okay. Let's get you to answer it. So we're going to play a game of grid, reel or story.

I'm going to give you four content ideas and ask you where you would post them. And why? Because I think that if you can understand why something is better on your grids than in a story, if you can understand that for yourself, rather than me telling you it's much more likely to stick. So I'm going to give you each example and give you a bit of time to think,

and then I'll give you the answers. Number one, a picture of you on holiday or on a night out with friends. Where should that go? Instagram grid? Should it be a reel or should it go in your stories? Number two, and answer to a question you get asked all the time by your ideal customers or clients like this one.

This very episode is a frequently asked question for me. So where should that go? Should it go on your Instagram grid? Should it be a reel or should it go in your Instagram stories? Number three, a screenshot of a newspaper article or a magazine article that you were just featured in. Should that go on your Instagram grid? Should it go in a reel or should it go in your Instagram stories?

And finally, number four, a high-quality picture of one of your products. If you sell a product or if you are a service-based business, a high-quality picture of you. So if you need to rewind and go back and listen to those again, just take a minute or so to do that. I'm now going to give you the answers. So number one,

a picture of you on holiday or on a night out with friends that should absolutely go in your Instagram story and it shouldn't go on your grid unless you run a holiday company or some kind of agency that helps you to make new friends or something. The question you need to ask yourself here is if someone comes to your Instagram account in, I dunno, six months time,

will it add value to them to see a picture of you on holiday or on a night out with your friends, will that give them information or educate them about your business brands or the products or services that you sell? Probably not. So that's one for your stories. I like to think about the difference as your grid, being about giving information and educating your ideal customers and clients,

and just always being more about conversation. Remember the stories only have a shelf life of 24 hours. You can of course put some of the best ones in your highlights, but they're more that throwaway kind of stuff. So that's really where your holiday or your night out with friends would go, where you can build connections with your audience and have conversations and share information that people might want to access months down the line example,

number two, and answer to a frequently asked question one that your ideal customers or clients ask you all the time. And that should absolutely be on your grid either as opposed or as an Instagram Reel, because if someone was to come across your accounts tomorrow, next week, six months down the line that kind of content can add value. It can inform it can educate.

You should also share it in your stories too, but only as a teaser, as a way to get people to go over to your grid or to look at your real example, number three, a screenshot of a newspaper article or a magazine article, you would just speak to them. This should go in your story. And here's why believe it or not,

people don't actually care that much about whether you were featured in Tatler or whether you were in the guardian. It's nice for you. You might feel really great about it, and you might be really proud, but, and this could be hard to hear your ideal customers or clients probably actually care that much. They'd much rather you share an educational piece of content that solved a problem for them or something that inspired them.

We're all selfish. Ultimately, when it comes to content creation. Now you might be thinking at this stage, Janet. No, but you're wrong. Like when people want to work with me or to buy my products, if they think I've been featured in whatever magazine they might well do. So put it in your stories or put it in your highlights.

But if, but just imagine someone coming to that piece of content in six months time, they'll probably be a bit like, yeah, that's nice, but compare that to a really informative educational post or Instagram carousel, or a reel. And that should help you understand why that content needs to go in your stories and not on your grid, a great testimonial from a client.

So a really great video with a client talking about the transformation that your product or service has given them. Absolutely put that on your grid. And if it's still going to be relevant months down the line, keep it on there. That is relevant to somebody who comes across you and is interested to know about your products and services and how they can deliver a transformation.

You will probably find me that type of content, that it doesn't get as much engagement as more educational or inspiring content. And what I sometimes do with content like that is I have it as a reel on my Instagram grid. But once that particular product launch has gone by, or I feel it's less relevant, I might take it out of my grid and just keep it in my reels.

And finally, number four, a high-quality picture of one of your products or of you, if you're a service-based business owner. So if you have a product-based business, absolutely this should be on your grid because high-quality photography or product images is really important. If people don't desire your products, if they don't want to hold it in their hands, they have it on their desk to be wearing it or showing it off to their friends.

Then it's going to be difficult for you to sell that product. Regardless, even if it's something quite functional, great product photography is important. If you are a service-based business owner, do people need to see regular professional shots of you on your quiz? I'm not sure that they do actually. I often hear people say, and I will do an episode just on this topic alone,

that they get more engagement when they post a picture of their beautiful face on the grid. Well, yes, you will get more engagement because people genuinely like seeing human faces more than they like seeing graphics. But that doesn't mean that's a good engaging piece of content. Again, think of that person coming back to your account in a few weeks time, a few months,

time, maybe a year's time. What value will it add to their life or their business seeing your face? Unless of course you're a makeup artist or you do hair or you're a model or something that's actually relevant. I do think it's important to have your face pop up on your grid from time to time, but that can be as a cover to an Instagram.

Reel, I don't think it's true that we need to see high-quality shots of your face, unless there's a reason. And it adds value to your ideal clients or customers and would be for some time to come. And by the way, if you are sharing product shots, you should also share them in your story as well. I share all of my grid posts and reels in my stories to encourage people to go over and look at them.

So I hope this exercise has helped you to see what you should be posting, where, and if you remember nothing else from this episode, it really is about the difference between providing information and educating your ideal customers and clients about your products services and about your expertise and having conversation you will of course have conversation on your grid and in your reels. The other key distinction is about longevity.

When you're creating content that you feel would still be valuable for somebody who stops by your account in three weeks, three months, maybe even three years time, that's a sign that it should be on your grids, either as a static post or as a reel. If it's something that's would not add value to your ideal customer or client, but it's fun.

It's an interesting conversation piece. The show you went to see last night, the fun thing you got up to at the weekends, they're amazing. You normally get your reading, the kind of things that help you to get closer to your audience. And if you have my Courageous Content planner, I would say that your Instagram story content should mainly be community content.

So this is content, which is about getting to know your audience and helping them to get to know you, your Instagram grid is going to be more educate content, which is about answering questions, solving problems for your ideal customers and clients and inspiring content and news and trends. That might be a helpful distinction for you. I don't think humidity content really works at all,

actually on Instagram grids. I've not seen it work, but it's great for Instagram stories. It's really what Instagram stories and Facebook groups for that matter were made for. So I hope you found this useful. I would love to know what you thought about this episode and whether it's helped you to see the difference between what you should be posting on your Instagram and on reels and to do stories.

And I would love you to connect with me on Instagram and tell me if it's helped, or if you have any follow-up questions I'm at Jan Murray UK.